Stars: Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Leslie Nielsen, Carrie Nye, E.G. Marshall, Vivica Lindfors Writer: Stephen King Director: George A. Romero Distributor: Warner Bros. Archive Collection Suggested Retail Price: $39.93 After assaulting audiences senses with his 1978 zombie masterpiece DAWN OF THE DEAD and taking a big detour with the action film KNIGHTRIDERS, director George A. Romero made his biggest leap into the mainstream with 1982’s now classic CREEPSHOW. 1982 was a good year for horror with John Carpenter’s THE THING, CAT PEOPLE, BASKET CASE and POLTERGEIST all making their debut among many other lesser known films (THE ENTITY […]Read On »

Stars: Sho Kosugi, Lucinda Dickey, Jordan Bennett Writer: James R. Silke Director: Sam Firstenberg Distributor: Shout! Factory Suggested Retail Price: $27.99 The output of infamous exploitation production company Cannon Films from the 1980s was filled with action films starring Chuck Norris, Charles Bronson, Michael Dudikoff, but their other magic touch was riding the wave of current trends and then remixing them out of the stratosphere. In addition to the conventional break dancing films BREAKIN’ and the far more memorable sequel title of BREAKIN’ 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO, they hit their apex in trend squatting with NINJA III: THE DOMINATION in 1984. […]Read On »

Stars: Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, Robert Brian Wilson Writer: Michael Hickey Director: Charles E. Sellier, Jr. Distributor: Shout! Factory Suggested Retail Price: $27.93 (Standard Edition), $64.93 (Deluxe Limited Edition with exclusive action figure) Grade: C+ (movie), B+ (special features) One of the most notorious movies of the 1980s is the rather innocuous 1984 Christmas slasher film SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. At the height of low budget horror at the boxoffice, this film had the unfortunate distinction of being acquired and released by a major studio at the time – TriStar Pictures. That unto itself spelled the death knell […]Read On »

Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer, Richard Farnsworth, Irene Papas, Kathryn Harrold Writer: Ron Koslow Director: John Landis Distributor: Shout! Factory Suggested Retail Price: $27.99 While you may know John Landis from his successful comedies (ANIMAL HOUSE, THE BLUES BROTHERS, TRADING PLACES) or his horror efforts (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, Michael Jackson’s THRILLER video), many of his projects that fall in between are worth a second look. While I was never a fan of his 1992 vampire film INNOCENT BLOOD, its recent release on Blu-ray (and taken for what it is, which is a vampire crime thriller) has aged rather […]Read On »

Stars: Marilyn Chambers, Joe Silver, Howard Ryshpan, Patricia Gage, Susan Roman, Frank Moore Writer/Director: David Cronenberg Distributor: Shout! Factory Suggested Retail Price: $24.93 While David Cronenberg’s first two films 1975’s SHIVERS (aka THEY CAME FROM WITHIN) and 1977’s RABID showcased his early fascination with body horror and subverting the traditional horror genre, it wasn’t until 1979’s THE BROOD where his ideas and filmmaking skills really began to gel in a cohesive fashion, improving by leaps and bounds with his each subsequent film. However, there’s tons to admire with both SHIVERS and RABID, and now, thanks to Shout! Factory, we finally […]Read On »

Stars: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Season Hubley, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau Writers: John Carpenter & Nick Castle Director: John Carpenter Distributor: Shout! Factory Suggested Retail Price: $29.93 As most of John Carpenter’s film output has been getting its just deserved Blu-ray remastered treatment over the last couple of years, one of the long-awaited hold-outs has been ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. This 1981 gem is an action picture opus on a shoestring presenting for the first time one of the most underrated action icons from the 1980s – Snake Plisskin (played with apathetic […]Read On »

How cool is this? Timed perfectly with the upcoming release of the new blockbuster MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, Shout! Factory is releasing a new cut of the original George Miller film starring Mel Gibson. The release of the MAD MAX Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray will be released on May 5, just 10 days before the release of FURY ROAD. The original film tells the story of Max Rockatansky, an Australian police officer that must deal with the new world after some sort of cataclysm engulfs the world forcing gangs of bandits to take violent action against everyone to secure water […]Read On »

Stars: Don Scardino, Patricia Pearcy, R.A. Dow, Jean Sullivan Writer-Director: Jeff Lieberman Distributor: Shout! Factory Suggested Retail Price: $29.93 SQUIRM is a 1976 nature run amok film that sported excellent poster art that made it feel like a gloriously gory Italian giallo film, but proved to be something completely different – a Southern character study populated by bloodthirsty worms. Shout! Factory has revisited the film with another excellent Blu-ray with a superb new transfer and solid special features. Modern audiences may be a bit letdown with the pacing and cheats SQUIRM employs. After all, we’re in the era of computer […]Read On »

Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Gunnar Hansen Writer: Kim Henkel & Tobe Hooper Director: Tobe Hooper Suggested Retail Price: $49.98 Distributor: Dark Sky Films Time has been very good to 1974’s THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. Not only has there been multiple, inferior sequels and remakes that have tried to supplant it with lesser results, but a whole new subgenre of horror movies was jump started due to this Tobe Hooper classic. That subgenre of course is the “kids in a van” movie. So many movies have used this template to the point of nauseum – kids take a detour […]Read On »

Stars: Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D’Aquino, Kerry Remsen, Kimberly Ross Writer: Mark Patrick Carucci with Gary Gerani, based on a story by Carducci, Stan Winston and Richard Weinman and based on the poem by Ed Justin Director: Stan Winston Suggested Retail Price: $29.93 Distributor: Shout! Factory PUMPKINHEAD has always been one of those odd horror films that defies categorization. It’s an original concept, has a great lead creature, a unique premise yet, when all is said and done, never truly achieves the greatness its premise promises. After watching the Collector’s Edition of the 1988 film from Shout! Factory, I […]Read On »